Our Correspondent :
Three separate cases were filed in connection with the incident of a mob beating a man to death and burning him on Burimari Union Parishad premises on allegations of hurting religious sentiment in the district’s Patgram upazila on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, five person involved in the incident were arrested on Saturday, said Suman Kumar Mahanta, officer-in-charge of Patgram Police Station.
Police, however, denied to disclose the identities of the arrestees for the sake of other involved persons’ arrest. The arrestees were named accused in the three cases, informed the OC.
OC Suman said the deceased Abu Younus Muhammad Shahidunnabi Jewel’s cousin Saiful Alam filed a murder case mentioning the names 100 people and hundred unnamed with the police station while Assistant Sub Inspector Shahjahan Ali of Patgram Police Station filed a case naming 50 persons and hundred unknown for putting restrictions on government work.
The other case filed by Abu Sayed Nawaz Nishat, chairman of Burimari Union Parishad, mentioned names of 50 people and another hundred unnamed for vandalising and setting fire on the union parishad office with the same police station, the OC added.
Meanwhile, police primarily suspected someone instigated the mob lynching.
After visiting the scene of the incident, Devdas Bhattacharya, deputy inspector general of police (DIG) of Rangpur Range, was commenting while responding to journalists’ questions at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon.
Asked if he thought the incident was a premeditated murder, the DIG said: “We primarily suspect someone instigated the mob lynching. Otherwise, how could such a trivial matter turn into an incident of this proportion? We will find out whoever is behind the incident.”
About the progress of the ongoing investigation, the police official said: “Three cases have been filed in connection with the mob lynching. One is a murder case, filed by the victim’s family. The second is a case filed by the Burimari UP chairman over vandalism of the union parishad office, and the third is a case filed over the assault on policemen and government officials filed by the police.”
“In these cases, those whom we have already identified have been accused. We are trying to find out the rest of the accused,” he added.
Meanwhile, the body of Jewel was handed over to family members on Saturday evening.
